Italian movie star Monica Bellucci takes a microphone from film director Guy ?doin at a press conference in Montreal on Wednesday, October 15, 2014 for the Quebec film Ville-Marie. The film is still shooting in Montreal. (John Kenney / THE GAZETTE)

If Italian actress Monica Bellucci is gracing our city with her presence, you can thank one person – Guy Édoin.

Édoin has only one feature under his belt, the critically acclaimed 2011 drama Marécages, yet he was able to lure one of Europe’s top movie stars to Montreal to shoot his second feature, Ville-Marie.

At a press conference, Bellucci said the reason she’s here shooting Ville-Marie is simple. She was blown away by Édoin’s screenplay and loved the role he was proposing for her. She was even more sold on coming here to work with Édoin after she watched Marécages.

“It’s an honour to be part of this project,” said Bellucci. “Guy has given me what I think is the most beautiful role I’ve had so far in my career. It’s a part that really touches me maybe because the character is a woman who is both an actress and a mother. So it’s a reflection of what I am in my own life.”

Ville-Marie was written by Édoin in collaboration with the Québécois novelist Jean-Simon DesRochers.

Bellucci first garnered notice thanks to the 1996 French film L’Appartement and has since starred in a slew of French, Italian and American films, including Malèna, Irréversible, The Matrix films, The Passion of the Christ and The Whistleblower.

In Ville-Marie, Bellucci plays an Italian-French actress who is in Montreal shooting a film. Her son, played by Aliocha Schneider, is studying architecture here and he’s on a quest to discover the identity of his father. The other major characters include a paramedic (Patrick Hivon) who is haunted by memories of his experience as a soldier, and a head nurse (Pascale Bussières) with a big heart who is nearly single-handedly holding an emergency room together. All four will come together in the ER of the fictional Ville-Marie Hospital.

Édoin was just as enthused about his lead actress as she was about him.

“Monica has a rigour that I’ve rarely seen in this business,” said Édoin. “I think she knows this character better than I do. She has an emotional intelligence that’s remarkable. On a set, Monica is a machine, with surgical precision. This week, I was watching rushes and I was discovering things I hadn’t seen when I was filming. It was a bit like what I discovered with Pascale (Bussières) on Marécages. It’s fascinating to watch these actresses at work.”

Bellucci said she agreed to work with Édoin without having seen Marécages. It was purely on the strength of the Ville-Marie screenplay. But once she agreed, she watched his first film and was mighty impressed, both by his work and by that of lead actress Bussières.

“Pascale is a magnificent actress,” said Bellucci. “She’s incredible in Marécages. Incredible talent, incredible beauty. It’s an honour to work with her.”

Bussières seemed almost embarrassed to be sitting beside Bellucci as the Italian actress praised the Quebec actress’s work. But Bussières was happy to return the compliment.

“Monica has had an extraordinary career,” said Bussières. “She’s an icon. So a priori, there’s something a bit intimidating about working with her. But all that fell away in a fraction of a second when we met. There’s one scene we did, which I can’t tell you more about, where I felt we had a real encounter and that was very important for me. It was very moving.”

Producer Félize Frappier from Max Films Media said it was surprisingly easy to snare Bellucci for the lead role. Montreal casting director Lucie Robitaille contacted Bellucci’s agents in Paris in January, sent them the screenplay, and just days later Bellucci agreed to act in the project.

“It’s really a crazy dream to offer the role to Bellucci,” said Frappier. “The lesson here is not to be afraid to try to propose roles to great actors. Actors are always looking for challenging roles.”

Bellucci has been here shooting since mid-September and she says she’s enjoying her first visit to Montreal.

“I love the people,” said Bellucci. “People are very open, very generous. Old Montreal is magnificent. But I haven’t had time to see much because we’re working so much. I feel a lot of warmness (from the film crew), people helping each other. I feel at home.”

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